Why limit yourself to a single smartphone if it is possible to create two, practically identical outside but a little different inside? The opportunity of Xiaomi (and many others) arises from the still limited availability of 5G and the need to empty the warehouses of the “old” 4G chips, the result? This year the Mi 11 Lite splits and does so in style, focusing on two extremely light and interesting terminals.
It must be said that it will not be easy to decide for one or the other, this double 4G or 5G solution continues to create confusion, also because the difference between the two versions is certainly not only in connectivity, in fact the nerve heart of the system changes and with him also the other important thing: the final price.
I haven’t tried smartphones that light for a long time, even under 160 grams, a real record given the size however sustained and in line with current trends (display of 6.55 inches diagonal). Music to the ears of the many fans who, like me, try to stay away from the so-called “bricks” and look for a middle ground. I wonder what compromises Xiaomi had to accept because I don’t see any macroscopics, the battery is also for both a respectable 4,250mAh unit (slightly more than last year’s 4,160mAh).
It certainly impacts the choice of materials, with smooth glass for the 4G version and matte glass, rougher, for the most exclusive variant; For the chassis they used polycarbonate and the thickness is also lower at 6.81mm versus 7.98mm last year. Two technologically advanced thins that rely a lot on the substance but care about the essential and clean lines. A few frills, flat display, very noticeable front frames and hole in the upper left to make room for the front camera.
Xiaomi has filed a few millimeters even in height, making the Mi 11 Lite more compact and less bulky, a remarkable effort worth pointing out.
If it were not for the colors, and for the 5G writing on the back of the most expensive model, it would be impossible to distinguish them, the Chinese house has in fact played on the components and expanded the offer, but what really pays? Before answering this question it is right to give some context, remembering that the Mi 10 Lite still remains an excellent smartphone, strong of the Snapdragon 765 5G chip, so much so that we have allowed ourselves to advise it again in our guide of the best smartphones under 300 euros.
It is surprising that the Mi 11 Lite is somewhat “below” its predecessor (Mi 10 Lite) from a hardware point of view; The newcomer has Snapdragon 732G instead of Snapdragon 765G, while the configuration is the same with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage on ufs 2.1 rather slow (501 MB/s in writing and 263 MB/s read). It was therefore chosen to split and point in two different directions: one step back with the basic version and one forward with the 5G version that instead mounts the powerful Snapdragon 780 chip.
The latter is one of the newest ever, made with a 5nm production process and considered as a slightly less powerful version of snapdragon 888: it has triple ISP, Adreno 642 and Snapdragon X53 5G modem. In short, everything you could want for a midrange and even beyond the prerogatives: the internal memory is faster (925 MB/s in writing and 684 MB/s in reading), pure performance is decidedly more pushed and benchmarks reveal it. On Antutu, for example:
Connectivity also changes, of course, and I am not just talking about the possibility of connecting to fifth-generation networks with the most expensive of the two; on the Mi 11 Lite 5G wifi is also a spanna above with the standard 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and faster download speeds than the integrated modem on the Mi 11 Lite.
Identical battery for the two and practically similar autonomy, certainly the 5G model consumes a little more but these are impressions and I did not notice substantial differences, for both you travel to a promotion with good marks. Moreover, they can count on 33W fast charging and chargers in pack, so the times are quite short.
Stereo audio on both, discreetly strong and balanced for terminals in this range, even hands-free. Excellent reception, you can use two nano SIM at the same time or a SIM and a microSD.
